Favor the Brave

Fortune's Folly keeps the dream of alt-rock alive

You might not have heard of Fortune's Folly, but you will. Coming out of Eugene, the band will give you the warm and fuzzy (guitar) feeling of those mid-90s female fronted alt-rock bands like The Breeders and No Doubt. There are also touches of Hole, The Cardigans and Garbage but without ever aping any other sound.

Lead singer Calysta Cheyenne has so much range that she can remind you of the late Sharon Jones on one song while wailing like Gwen Stefani on the next. The band's self-titled EP from last year might only have five songs on it, but it's a genuine showcase for Cheyenne's diverse vocals, as well as the band's entire lineup.

Drummer Alex 'Squatch' Koleber explains the band's origins. "The band was initially formed in October of 2013. Me and Jesse (Sanchez on bass) were playing together in another project that had been doing some small-scale touring around the West Coast. We both decided we wanted to go in a different musical direction and started looking to form a new project."

They teamed up with guitarist Ira Mazie and after an hour of jamming decided they had something good going. "Fast forward 10 months and about a dozen songs later when we decided we wanted to recruit a female vocalist that would fit our sound," says Koleber. "We auditioned a few people but nothing was sticking. A last ditch effort inspired a Craigslist ad and Calysta responded within a few days. We sent her some demos, met her a week later and have been together ever since."

From there, the band started growing organically. "We started playing small clubs and when we felt we had some solid footing locally, started branching out regionally," says Koleber. "It's been a really exciting ride so far, interacting with such devoted music lovers and developing an audience out of town has been challenging but rewarding."

The rewards are evident in the band's already polished sound. Sometimes checking out an out of town band as they come through Bend can be a crapshoot, but Fortune's Folly is a safe bet. In them the legacy of The Breeders is alive and well.